Pressing metal



L. C. PRITNER ET AL PRESSING METAL Jan. 20, 1925. 1,523,713

Filed Aug. 15, 1922 meniars 192 111? 6. Darfzls:

Patented Jan, 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFEQEQ INDSAY C. PRI'INER AND HENRY C. DOB-BIS, OFJOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

PBESSING- METAL.

Application filed August 15, 1922.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LINDSAY (l. PRITNER andHENRY C. DORRIS, citizens of the United States, and residing in the cityof J ohnstown, county of Cambria, and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Pressing Metal; and wedo hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to pressing metal and to the dies and apparatustherefor which comprise a portion of the method and mechanism in shapinga plate of metal, with particular reference to forming a railway truckside frame of the type generally disclosed in the G. A. Anderson Patent1,422,074, dated July 11, 1922.

The type of truck side frame referred to is formed of one metal plate,and all the members thereof are substantially integral, so that theentire truck side frame may be said to be composed of one piece ofmetal, shaped and formed in its various parts to provide the differentmembers, each of which is adapted to perform its proper functions inuse.

Prior operations in forming such a truck side frame may consist intaking a plate of metal, preferably of iron or steel, cutting it toshape, then forming flanges on various of its edges, and then bendingthe cut and flanged plate about its intermediate portion until the twosides are at a small angle with each other, with the edges of theflanges substantially opposite; this being done in this manner to allowthe withdrawal of the top bending die, as disclosed in our otherapplication entitled Metal bending, filed August 15, 1922, Serial No.581,933.

After the steps above mentioned have been connyleted, the out, flangedand partially bent plate is placed on our bottom pressing die, which dieis of contour, size and proportions adapted to fit closely against thesides and parts of the flanges of the plate. When the frame blank is inthis position one of its sides rests on the bottom die and the otherprojects upwardly therefrom at a small angle, in other words the twosides of the plate frame are not completely closed together.

A top die, which substantially conforms to the outer contour of theflanged and bent Serial No. 581,932,

plate and certain of the interior flanges thereof is provided andarranged. to be moved up or down in registry with the bottom die, andafter the plate is set carefully on the bottom die the top die isbrought down and closes the two sides together.

One of the final operations in finishing a truck frame made in this wayconsists in welding the adjacent edges of the flanges or portionsthereof together. This present operation brings the edges opposite eachother with the portions of the same which are to be welded arranged at apredetermined distance apart of about one-quarter or threeeighth inches,more or less, and in the subsequent operation these portions of thecontiguous edges of the flanges are welded together either electricallyor otherwise.

After the two sides of the plate forming the truck frame are thusclosed, the partially completed frame is withdrawn and the operation maybe continued on another.

The dies may be arranged in any suitable press operated hydraulically orotherwise,

.and the bottom die may be secured to the bottom platen thereof and thetop die may be movable to and from the bottom die, or viceversa, or bothof the dies may be'made to move toward each other and retracted fromeach other as desired.

In order that the work may be done accurately, the dies are providedwith projecting portions which are adapted to slidingly contact witheach other, so that when the closed pressed frame is of a certain andpredetermined overall thickness, the sides are substantially paralleland all or portions of the contiguous flanges are spaced the desireddistances apart, so they may be ready for the next operation of weldingas above described.

Although we prefer to weld the continuous parts of the flanges of ourframes, this welding may be omitted, as the frame may be used withoutit.

Having thus given a general description of our invention, we will now,in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet ofdrawings, which form part of this specification, and in which likecharacters refer to like parts:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the top pressing die; Fig. 2 is a topplan view of the bottom pressing die; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of thebottom pressing die; i is a side elevation of the top pressing die, and

Fig. is an end elevation illustrating the position of the top and bottompressing dies just before they begin the pressing action on a previouslypartially formed pressed steel,

truck side frame, the top pressing die also being shown in dotted linesat the end'of its working stroke. 7

Referring now to the characters of refer ence on the drawings :1 is thetop die in general, 2 generally indicates the bottom die, 3 are theextending end portions of the top die projections 9 and '10, providedwith wear plates4 attached thereto, and which as the top die moves down,bear against the wear plates 6 of the bottom die, which are secured tothe projecting portions 7 and 8 thereof, and these serve to maintain thealignment and position of the dies with respect to each other in orderthat the work shall be accurate. The top die is provided withprojections 9 and 10, and the bottom diehas corresponding projections 7and 8, the inner surfaces of which conform to shape of the top andbottom of the side frame, and these. are provided with guides 6 andslides 1, comprising the wear plates referred to,

' which bear against each other in order to maintain mutual registry ofthe dies. 5 are cut-away portions adapted'to contact "with the stop onthe press (not shown) to aid in setting the dies in proper relativeposition. When the dies are in their final closed position, the uppersurfaces ofthe projections 7 and 8 of the bottom die are.

adapted to contact with the corresponding surfaces 9 and 10 of the topdie, which therefore determines the width of the space or openingsbetween the dies when they are closed in order to maintain thedesiredthickness of the pressed shape. The top die provided with arecess 11 formed in the working face thereof and of contour such as tosubstantially fit against the top and bottom edges of the frame, and isalso provided with spacing blocks therein, namely, end spacing blocks13, central spacing block 15', and intermediate spacing block 17. Theseare adapted to fit within portions of the corresponding openings in theframe and further assist in thefformation thereof. The top die is alsoprovided with small blocks 19 near its ends for. engaging the ends ofthe integral pedestal tie bar of the frame. The bottom dies is alsoprovided with a recess 12 corresponding to the general contour of theframe to be pressed, and is similarly provided with end spacing blocks14, central spacing block 16,

and intermediate spacing block 18, adapted to. fit in portions of thevarious openings of the frame. The bottom die 'isalso provided withsmall blocks 20 adapted to contact with the ends of and support the tiebar members on one side of the frame. 21 indicates the pressed metaltruck side frame in general,

22 are the integral pedestal tie bars on each side thereof, and 23 is aformer, which is in the upper portion of the top arch bar member of theframe, this former having been introduced in the prior operation for thepurpose of shaping and maintaining the form of this part of the truckside frame. This former is composed of a metal bar of approximatelyrectangular cross-section with rounded edges and for the purposeoffacilitating its withdrawal it is mace in two pieces of taper .or.wedge form, so that one-half may be withdrawn in one direction and theotherin the other, and the starting of. said withdrawal may beaccomplished by striking the projecting end of one of the wedge pieceswith a sledge, which overcomes the initial frictiomafter which the twopieces may be easily with drawn, preferably in the opposite direction.This former assists in'maintaining the shape of the top arch bar, but isparticularly useful in prior operations and may or maynot be used inthis present one asdesired.

Having thus described our apparatus, we will now explain its method ofoperation-: The dies being apart as illustrated in Fig. 5, a previouslycut, flanged and partially bent truck side frame, as illustrated at 21,is introduced and laid in the recess 12 of the bottom die, whereuponcertain of its various portions are supported by the working faces ofthe projections 7 and 8 and the various blocks, 14:, 16, 18, and 20.After this is done the top die is moved downwardly and the other side ofthe frame is engaged by the top die and-gradually enters'the space 11,whereupon the blocks, 13, 15, 17 and 19 engage the various sides of theflanges and tie bars thereof to maintain them in shape during the finalforming, and as the top .die is moved downwardly. the various slides 4:thereof engage'with corresponding guides 6 of the bottom .die tomaintain them in registry. The topdie is continued in its down wardmovement until the lower faces of the projections 9 and 10 contact withthe corresponding projections 7 and 8 of. the bottom with its sidessubstantially parallel. This operation may be performed either hot orcold, but we prefer to accomplish it when the. frame is hot from theprevious operation. After this is done the top die is retracted, and theframe 21 is withdrawn from the bottom die and the operation may berepeated with another. a

' Althoughiwe have described and illustrated our 'iIlVBJltiOllllIlconsiderable detail, we do not wish to be limited to the exact andspecific details thereof as shown and described, but may use suchmodifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof as areembraced within the .scope of our inven- 1 tion, or as pointed out inthe claims.

'die,,whereupon the truck frameis closed Having thus described ourinvention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.The steps in the method of forming a truck side frame, which comprisestaking a previously cut and flanged blank, which has been partially bentwith its sides at an angle to each other, introducing the same between apair of dies substantially conforming to the shapes of certain of itsparts, then causing the dies to relatively move toward each other apredetermined distance, whereby the sides of the blank are broughttogether as desired.

2. The steps in the method of forming a truck side frame, comprisingtaking a previously cut and edge flanged plate, the sides of which havebeen bent at an angle to each other, introducing the same into a diehaving portions which substantially conform to the top and bottomsurfaces of said side frame and to the boundaries of portions of theopenings therein, then projecting a similar top die against said plate,causing it to be gradually introduced into said top die, and thenclosing the dies to a predetermined distance apart, whereby the frame ispressed to the shape desired.

3. A top and bottom die, each provided with rojecting portions ofcontour similar to the top and bottom of a truck side frame, a pluralityof forming blocks projecting from the surfaces between said projectingportions, and of size and shape adapted to contact with portions of thepreviously formed flanges of said frame, and means for relativelyadvancing and retracting said dies.

4:. Bending dies, comprising a bottom die having side projections, theinner surfaces of which conform to the top and bottom members of a truckside frame, a plurality of forming blocks mounted within the dies andbetween the projections aforesaid, said blocks being of size and shapeadapted to contact with portions of the previously formed flanges ofsaid frame, guides on one die and corresponding slides on the otheradapted to contact with each other and maintain the same in registry.

5. Bending dies, comprising a to and a bottom die each having sideprojections, the inner surfaces of which conform to the top and bottommembers of a truck side frame, a

plurality of forming blocks mounted within signatures.

LINDSAY C. PRITNER. HENRY C. DORRIS.

